Journey's End
by AwesomeFanFictionAuthor
Summary: But what if Taelia Hopper hadn't been killed? She can't age, so she would just keep living, right? Well, what would happen if she lived to see Project Carthage finally shut down. She would be free! She could live out a normal life, but...how does one...DO that, exactly?


**Hi yes hello I thought it might be time for a new Taelia oneshot that I've had in my notebook for a while. I own the backstory of Taelia Hopper though she's based on the character that MoonScoop owns. This story is a part of my 3 year anniversary massive updation.**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

Everyday absolutely normal things happen. People go to school, go to work. People sit in their pajamas all day watching daytime television and eating bonbons. People celebrate births and mourn deaths. However today was a very special day, the end of an era. Jonathan Knights, alias Agent Alpha, was the final agent to work on Project Carthage. And what was today? The day of his funeral.

His family and friends gathered around his grave. They mourned, cried, prayed, and supported each other. It was a small funeral, without government or military honors. Carthage had been top secret, even to the grave. All the files had been burned. It was all gone, finally gone, after all this time.

Everyone was too absorbed in the ceremony to notice a lone girl, only around 13, standing off to the side. She was dressed in an over sized, unmarked gray hoodie and black pants. She had short black hair that curled up at the ends, which were dyed hot pink, as was the style of the time. She stood there, unmoving. If nobody knew better, they might think her a statue...a statue who's face echoed the scars she had received so many years ago, and who's green hazel eyes were far too old for a girl of her age.

It was only when Jonathan's family said their last goodbye, and left the grave site, that the girl came out of her almost trance like state. She approached the grave and took a small white rose out of her pocket. She felt the petals one by one and stared at the grave for a long time. Her face betrayed no emotion. She was neither sad, nor mad, nor even happy, though she had every reason to be. Her face was completely blank.

Suddenly she whipped a Swiss army knife out of her pocket and pricked her finger. She held her finger above the rose and let her blood drip onto it. The result was morbidly beautiful. She placed the rose onto the grave, separate from any of the other flowers that had been placed on his grave.

"You always wanted my blood on your hands...this is the least I can do."

Her words fell dead against the silence. None but the spirits were listening, and even they probably weren't interested in what this girl had to say. This girl, that defied all laws of nature.

She made no attempt to stop her finger from bleeding. Her blood didn't bother her anymore.

This girl, did in fact, have a name. It was Taelia Marie Hopper, or rather, Morgan Xenia Stones...she didn't know which she went by now, if she went by either. Many many years ago she had to change her name in order to get away from the government. Though, she couldn't help but wondered what would have happened if she had stayed at Project Carthage, and claimed that she had no allegiance to Waldo Schaeffer, and would not betray the government. She probably would have ended up dead anyways.

However...in retrospect, perhaps that would have been the kinder fate. Instead of being killed, she lost everyone she loved and every semblance of a normal life. She had been chased after, and had slowly lost all sanity. Worst of all, because of a malfunction with the scanners, which was her fault, she was now trapped in a 13 year old body forever.

For what is a worse fate? To die...or to live long enough to see everything you cared about die.

"Ya know, it's kinda funny. You and the others were always so sure you would catch me and kill me...and yet, here I am. And there you are, in the ground with all your buddies. I suppose I get the last laugh."

She didn't laugh though, and her face was humorless.

She had been waiting for so long, SO LONG, for this day to come...and now that it had...

She was warped beyond repair...

All she could think about was who she had lost on the way. It wasn't like she had done anything special, just the opposite. The reason she still had her youth, the reason she had been young enough to escape was because of a mistake. Other people...Anthea...Franz...Aelita...people who loved each other so much, all died sacrificing themselves...but since they were all dead, that sacrifice was pointless.

Where had all of her running taken her? The grave of her pursuer...where all the outside world to her was a stranger, and she a stranger to the world.

"Goodbye, my old friend."

And with that, the strange girl put her hands in her pockets and walked away. All of the files on her were burned, nobody would know who she was or what she had done. She no longer existed, and that meant she had a completely clean slate. She could literally do anything and be anyone that she wanted to be.

However, as the girl walked away from a lifetime's chase, into a new world full of possibility, only one thought crossed her mind.

What do I do now?

* * *

_**I've been running all my life, and now I'm just supposed to...to stop? I don't know anything else...**_

**__Like I said, part of 3 year anniversary on this site celebration**

**I celebrate by locking myself in my room and writing**

**exciting, right?**

**Review, if'n ya please**


End file.
